What does gooky mean?
Gooky is an informal American adjective meaning disgusting, repellent, or unappealing in a particularly vivid way. It is especially associated with food that has gone bad, unpleasant smells, slime, and other physically off-putting things, although a speaker may also describe a person, place, object, or piece of music as gooky. The word is blunt and strongly negative rather than neutral, and its exaggerated quality can make a description sound humorous or playful. Gooky is especially common in casual speech and informal writing; more formal alternatives include disgusting, revolting, unpleasant, or unappealing. First used in the late nineteenth century, it is generally associated with American English and is now familiar enough to occur in ordinary conversation. Although relatively uncommon in careful editorial prose, it is useful when a speaker wants to express not merely mild dislike but an immediate sense of physical repulsion.
adjectiveGooky means disgusting, repellent, or thoroughly unappealing. It is an informal adjective especially common in American English.
- Disgusting, repellent, or thoroughly unappealing.
"The soup had a gooky grey layer on top, so none of us would eat it."
"There was a gooky smell coming from the refrigerator."
"A gooky green slime had formed around the drain."
Gooky is the culinary insult for a mess so unappetizing that “gross” sounds almost formal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of gooky
Gooky is a late-nineteenth-century English word, generally traced to the older form gucky. The ultimate origin of that form is uncertain, and the word developed as an emphatic, jocular expression for something repellent.
Related word forms
How gooky is actually used
Gooky is strongly negative and informal, especially for food, slime, odors, or other things considered physically repellent. It is often used predicatively, as in “That looks gooky,” but it can also modify a noun.
Easily confused with gooky
Gooky describes something disgusting or repellent, whereas gunky describes something sticky, viscous, or muddy.